Initially, Sanford was a sole fisher, hunting snapper in the Hauraki Gulf, operating from his cutter, Foam, a business which he began soon after moving to New Zealand in 1864.
He sold freshly smoked snapper from his boat while moored at Queen Street Wharf in Auckland.
Expansion beyond Auckland began in the 1890s, with a factory established in Thames and run by Sanford's son George.
Without the resources to fish the zone entirely by themselves, Sanford entered into joint ventures with Marissco of Singapore, setting up the joint venture company Sanmar Fisheries Ltd.[1] Since the 1980s, Sanford have augmented their ocean fishing with aquaculture, initially with oysters and now operating major mussel farms in the Marlborough Sounds.
[2] The company's interim CEO is Craig Ellison,[3] scion of a prominent Ngāi Tahu family with deep links to the fishing industry.